Broken
by IceMaidenOfLegend
Summary: Love was the sole power to overcome all difficulties. Love was the healer. Love was the condemner.


Broken

The rain fell. It crashed against windows. It assaulted rooftops. The streets were rivers. All areas of grass and greenery had become swamps.

Hino stared out of her window forlornly. The weather had been unrelenting recently. The streets were almost impossible to navigate. It would be easier to swim than to walk. However, she couldn't even do that. The current was too strong. Even cars were being swept away.

She shook her head angrily. Her violin was held in her hands. She tried to maintain her grip without becoming too firm. She didn't want to damage it. Her worries did need an outlet but she couldn't find one suitable enough. Her heart wouldn't be able to bear it if she broke the strings again.

Hino placed the violin gently onto the window sill. She rested her chin on the heels of her hands and peered out. The rain was delicate and if you looked to the sky you would see none of the droplets.

Her eyes drifted to the right. The telephone sat proudly on the side table. It shone the colour of ivory. The phone was an antique from Britain. If you wanted to make a call then you had to turn the dial in the centre.

Despite the loneliness she couldn't be bothered to make a call. That was for the best. The power had been cut due to the weather. In the distance she could see a telephone pole. It was caught in the branches of an old tree. Sparks ignited from time to time but the rains stopped it from catching.

She pushed away from the window. A tired sigh escaped her. She strode to the darker half of the room. Her hand skimmed an old cabinet. Then she fell to her knees. The _thud_ was as gentle as the rain could be invisible.

Her back turned to rest against the wood. She drew her knees up to her chest and held herself. All of her strength was spent in staying in one piece. If she let go then she would shatter. It felt as literal as it was metaphorical.

Time had changed nothing. She wasn't the same. No one was the same. Time moved on and so did people. The most important matter – the one that haunted her – would never do so. If she looked at her hands she still saw blood.

It was the same no matter where she looked. That didn't stop her from taking the grand mirror with her to this building that she bought only months before. It was in England and built in Victorian times. She came to escape the past and the others. That mirror was the only exception. She chose it over her own wedding ring.

It was in that mirror that she had once envisioned a beautiful future. The shadows of the world fell from existence. She ignored everything but her own happiness. That was when her world fell apart.

She saw it every time she closed her eyes. She saw it in every dream since that awful night. She felt her chest constrict with dread with every breath she took. Her stomach still ached without end.

It wasn't real. They told her that it wasn't real. They told her that she was imagining the pain. The doctor wanted to _help_ her.

She didn't need them.

She didn't need any of them. Their advice was meaningless and without experience. Even her beloved knew nothing.

A soft _thud_ arose. Hino was lying on her side. Her eyes had become as flooded as the streets. Only her sorrow knew no end. She knew that bring more pain. Her constant state of mourning would make them all suffer again. It would taint innocence until there would be nothing left of it but death.

She didn't care. It meant nothing. It would continue to mean nothing until the time of death. Then she would relive every moment of anguish and torment once more. She would rest at that time. She would follow and apologise.

"Hino!"

He raced to her side and lifted her by the shoulders. Her head fell forward. Slowly, she blinked but her eyes saw nothing. His hands moved along her arms, neck and waist. He held her as though she were dying. The domed ceiling suddenly became clear to her.

She blinked again. Her vision grew clearer. She could glimpsed his blue hair from the corner of her vision. She closed her eyes. He shouldn't have come.

"You don't have to do this," he whispered; careful not to hold her too close. "I'm here. I'm with you. I've always been with you and I'll stay with you. If you leave then I will too."

"I… I…" she gasped, blinded by tears. "I lost him… or her."

"You don't have to lose another," he urged. "We can go back. All of us can go back."

She closed her eyes solemnly. "Don't… Don't make me… forget,"

"I would never make you do that. I couldn't even think of doing that myself," he begged.

Slowly, her head turned to him. She heard the sincerity in his voice. She knew from the despair in hers every time she spoke. Her eyes opened. For the first time in years she didn't look, instead she _saw_.

"I can't forget," she told him.

"I can't let you go," he replied.

**Author's Note: Oh dear~ I can see a great deal in this. What I can't see is how glad I am to be back writing fanfiction. This quality is amazing for me so I hope that you enjoyed this story. Thank you for reading. I know that this is vague but this entire collection is so I apologise if you can't grasp the meaning.**

**Part of the Revival Collection.**


End file.
